This month saw an uptick in solar flares—huge Coronal Mass Ejections from our Sun that can spark gorgeous Aurora Borealis effects around the world, but also disrupt radio communications. By “radio” the experts often mean high frequency communications systems, but could broadcast radio stations be affected as well? Well, according to the solarstorms.org site, one […]
The White House has responded to a petition asking the Federal government to eliminate Rush Limbaugh from the lineup of radio programs available on the American Forces Network for overseas troops. “Thank you for your interest in American Forces Network (AFN) programming . . . ” the statement begins, but: “AFN does not censor content, […]
My friend and noted radio historian Jesse Walker e-mailed me the other day. “Just found out that there’s a ton of back issues of the WBAI and KPFK folios posted at archive.org,” Walker wrote. “Did you know this?” He was referring to the Internet Archives, of course. I think I did know, but then I […]
Radio Survivor readers may remember the uproar over a McDonald’s radio advertisement that many Pit Bull lovers found offensive. The radio spot aired on February 3. “Trying a brand new menu item at McDonald’s isn’t risky,” it began. “You know what’s risky? Petting a stray Pit Bull. Or shaving your head just to see how […]
I am still in Hong Kong, just days after the city’s huge annual demonstration commemorating the handover of the city to the People’s Republic of China. Politically, Hong Kong is a 7 million person town in turmoil. Its newly elected chief administrator, Leung Chun-ying, already faces charges that he lied about illegal structures in his […]
I am visiting Hong Kong, which has been rocked by demonstrations protesting the arrival of China’s President Hu Jintao (Update: I took the YouTube video above at today [Sunday’s] amazing pro-democracy demonstration on Hong Kong Island). He’s in town to commemorate the 15th anniversary of “The Handover,” as it is called around here. That’s the […]
Today (Wednesday) is Listener Appreciation Day at San Francisco Bay Area classical music public radio station KDFC. “After the great response to our June Fund Drive, we wanted to do something to say thanks to all our new members so we’ll play your requests all day,” notes an announcement that I received on Tuesday. “We’ve […]
New York City area radio listeners are still in shock over the demise of WRKS (98.7 KISS-FM) as an urban oriented radio station. The operation has merged with its R&B rival WBLS-FM. On April 30, KISS-FM was no more; its signal now streams ESPN sports talk. “Let’s linger a moment on the loss of a […]
“I am an avid music listener, concertgoer, and college radio DJ. My world is music-centric. I’ve only bought 15 CDs in my lifetime. Yet, my entire iTunes library exceeds 11,000 songs.” These words, written by college radio general manager and NPR intern Emily White, will probably go down in history as the most remembered in […]
In a case with huge implications for broadcast radio, the Supreme Court has overturned the Federal Communications Commission’s sanctions against Fox Television News for broadcasting so called “fleeting expletives”—essentially potty talk spoken on the fly. The same relief was extended to ABC for broadcasting a brief nudity scene on NYPD Blue. “Because the Commission failed […]
